Lack of left-handed power in baseball could help Mets

By Steven Inman

The Mets don’t have to deal with left-handed bats in the N.L. East like Jason Heyward who was dealt to the Cardinals this winter

While power hitters are becoming endangered in major league baseball there is something that has become even rarer and that is left-handed pop. In an excellent article by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Sherman details how rare the left-handed slugger truly has become. Only one of the top eight home run hitters in 2014 was left-handed.

Just eight left-handed hitters hit 25 or more dingers in 2014, the fewest in a 162-game season since 1992. So how does that relate to the Mets?

Well its simple, the Mets, who currently don’t have a reliable lefty reliever in their pen may not have to game plan for that big lefty bopper as much as originally thought. While Freddie Freeman is still a big bat to save a lefty specialist for, there aren’t nearly as many as their used to be in the N.L. East. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are obviously not the threats they used to be. Jason Heyward is now out of the division. Bryce Harper hasn’t established himself as a player you have to fear late in games, just yet anyway.

Terry Collins and company still need to solve this bullpen hole but if they don’t, it won’t be the reason 2015 isn’t successful.

Injuries, lack of depth could bring Mets bullpen major problems

By Steven Inman

The Mets don’t have the depth to replace a pitcher like Vic Black, should he miss any extended time (Photo by NY Post)

While the New York Mets have an impressive group of young arms in their bullpen that includes hard throwing right-handers like Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia, injuries have hurt this once promising group.

The team is already without Josh Edgin, who was the lone left-hander projected to make the Opening Day bullpen. Vic Black is also banged up and doesn’t look like he’ll be ready for Opening Day according to Terry Collins. The team has looked at internal options to replace Edgin but none have pitched well to date. The team will look to waivers to find a left-handed reliever so the lack of depth is obvious with just two weeks to go before Opening Day.

A pitcher like Buddy Carlyle who pitched well in 27 appearances for the Mets last season now looks like a lock to make the Opening Day bullpen. While Carlyle looked solid with the Mets last season, he is 37 years old and has pitched in just 31.0 big league innings since 2011.

While the team has plenty of starting pitching depth, they don’t have a ton of guys ready and able to pitch in key bullpen innings for the Mets down on the farm. Bobby Parnell is expected to pitch early on in the season but having pitched in just one major league game since July 2013, it is unfair to count on him for a significant role just yet. Stay tuned Met fans this issue could be something to watch…

Brian Matusz trade to Mets highly unlikely

By Steven Inman 

Matusz has spent all six years of his major league career with the Orioles after Baltimore selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft

With Josh Edgin down, the New York Mets are in search of his replacement in the bullpen. According to various media reports the Mets have been scouting Orioles lefty Brian Matusz and believe he could help the club’s bullpen. Matusz, 28, has emerged as a key left-handed weapon in the Orioles bullpen after failing as a starter during his first four big league seasons. Matusz would be a great addition to the Mets bullpen and would help fill a glaring need.

Having said that, Brian Matusz will not be a Met in 2015.

First off Matusz is a key component to the Orioles bullpen. He held left-handed hitters to a .227 average in 2014. While the Orioles have other left-handed options such as closer Zach Britton and free agent signing Wesley Wright, it is highly unlikely that they would be interested in dealing Matusz this close to the season without something of value in return.

Secondly while Matusz is under club control through 2016, he is entering his third season of arbitration as a Super Two player and will earn $3.2 million in 2015. If the Mets didn’t have interest in giving a lefty like Joe Beimel a contract in the $1 million range, they probably don’t have interest in paying Matusz more than triple that in addition to giving up players.

It is also unclear if the Mets could fit such a contract into their budget at this time without trading a major league player on a similar 2015 salary.

While the Mets are scouring around for a lefty, it is more likely the need is addressed internally or from an unproven pitcher who is unable to make his current club and is about to be put through waivers.

The Edgin news increases the chances that LHP Sean Gilmartin will make the club but the team sees him more as a long man in a bullpen not as a lefty specialist. Gilmartin, like other Mets LHP options for the bullpen has not impressed much early on in camp.

How should the Mets address this underrated issue?

Zack Wheeler has torn UCL, likely to have Tommy John surgery

By Steven Inman

After giving Zack Wheeler an MRI as a precaution, the club is shockingly expected to lose their young right-hander for the 2015 season (Photo by Newsday)

Just when you think the Mets were ready to turn the corner more bad news strikes.

After learning days ago that LHP Josh Edgin will have Tommy John surgery, we learn today that RHP Zack Wheeler has a torn UCL and will likely have TJ surgery as well. When will the hits stop coming to this poor snakebitten franchise.

Terry Collins and company didn’t even feel it was necessary the other day to give Wheeler the MRI since he just had a clean one over the winter. It’s just very disappointing news on what is expected to be a better season for the New York Mets.

While Wheeler looked primed for a big season (I suggested the club should give him a contract extension a few months ago) there are a few small positives about the timing of this news. First off since the Mets overvalued Dillon Gee’s market, he is still here and can now slot into Wheeler’s spot in the rotation.

Next since Wheeler will likely his surgery sometime next week he would be on track to return to the majors next April, barring a setback. Finally because of the starting pitching depth on the major league and the minors league rosters this won’t kill the Mets season just yet. Although one more bad piece of injury news and they could be done for.

Nevertheless this is still very bad news for a young team trying to breakout. Now even more pressure is on Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and now even Jon Niese to carry this club.

Mets will pay dearly for not bringing in lefty reliever, as Edgin goes down

By Steven Inman

All winter the Mets talked about how important it was to bring in another left-handed specialist for their bullpen. Actions speak louder than words however as the Mets did not invest any guaranteed money into a lefty specialist. Obviously the Mets financial constraints are serious but its concerning that the club wasn’t able to muster up enough money even to bring in somebody on a guaranteed deal.

The Mets had zero margin for error with just LHP Josh Edgin in their bullpen. The Mets have overworked their lone lefty relievers in the past consistently.

During the BrokeMets spring training primer last week I called Edgin’s the team’s most important reliever. Now we learn that he is going down for the year with Tommy John surgery. The team now has zero viable left-handed relievers to put into the pen and will be forced to put in a player such as Scott Rice on the roster when he probably shouldn’t be there.

Terry Collins prefers to match up late into games and will not have many options to do so when a big left-handed bat comes in for opposing teams.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen has been very unimpressed with the left-handed relief candidates. “Most of them haven’t had great production anyway” Warthen said in a quote by ESPN NY Adam Rubin.

Even if the Mets did have money to spend at this point, there aren’t many relief options available. Free agency is now barren as specialists such as Joe Beimel, Phil Coke and Joe Thatcher have all signed minor-league deals over the last month or so.  The Mets could get one in a trade if a player is out of options and is unable to make his current club, but that wouldn’t give the Mets a ton of time to evaluate if the player can handle the workload that Terry will need from that position.

It is truly disappointing that the Mets didn’t address such an obvious need and with no internal candidates stepping up, this is a problem that is likely going to reveal itself when the season starts.

2015 Mets Season Preview: Good enough for the Postseason?

By Steven Inman 

If things go well for the Mets in ’15, expect Collins to be one of the favorites for NL Manager of the Year
Photo by CBS NY

The 2015 Mets are chomping at the bit to get the regular season started. They are confident and aren’t prepared to just concede the N.L. East title to the Washington Nationals like most “experts”. On paper, thanks to this pitching staff and a rejuvenated David Wright, this could be the best Met team since 2008, which happens to be the franchise’s last winning season,

The depth on this team is truly the difference maker. If a key player goes down to injury the team now has a young player with upside able to fill in at many positions instead of having to dip down in Vegas to find a 30-year old “quadruple-A” player like in previous seasons.

The starting rotation will be this clubs strength but it will be very intriguing to see how Terry Collins handles it. The entire coaching staff will have to be ultra creative in stretching Matt Harvey’s 150-160 innings across the entire season. The team originally planned on Harvey skipping the first week and starting the home opener, but that plan has been scrapped.

Zack Wheeler remains a work in progress and can come undone quickly so the coaching staff will have their work cut out for them. This young right-hander must learn how to get batters out on fewer pitches or he isn’t going to be able to go deep in games often. Along with that the team will have to decide if Dillon Gee should enter the rotation should Bartolo Colon struggle early in April.

The growth of these young pitchers will be how I judge Terry Collins and Dan Warthen in 2015.

The Mets lineup is pretty set except for the fact that the team plans on using Lucas Duda everyday, even against lefties. That would be a huge mistake as Duda hit .180 in 125 plate appearances in 2014 vs. LHP and is a .212 career hitter against southpaws in five big league seasons. Duda would be much more effective strictly against RHP. Plus the Mets have a huge weapon on their bench against left-handers in John Mayberry Jr., who has crushed lefties throughout his career before last year, when he struggled against all pitchers. How Collins handles Mayberry Jr. will be one of the more underrated elements to this Met season.

Lastly this Met bullpen will be the best Terry Collins has had in New York as he enters his fifth season as Met manager. The one concern he may have is that he only has one left-hander in his ‘pen. If Josh Edgin struggles this bullpen could become a problem. The key for Edgin is keeping his velocity up. Edgin averages 93 mph on his fastball and he doesn’t have the stuff to get left-handed bats out should that drop even a tick like it did last spring.

Whether you like it or not, Josh Edgin enters camp as arguably the most important Met reliever in 2015

This team clearly has more talent than in years past. While Alderson didn’t do much over the winter (or any winter as Mets GM), sometimes the best move is the one you don’t make. Alderson and his staff look very wise to have hung on to all of their young pitching over the last few seasons although it would have been nice if he added another left-handed reliever.

To me, this team looks like a playoff contender that will likely fall short of the postseason in the end thanks to a poor defense and an inability to add that one key bat they likely will need at the trade deadline. This team will finish with 84 wins and will play meaningful games down the stretch. The Mets have a very bright future.

How many wins will the Mets have in 2015?

Mets Projected 25-Man Roster Version 1.0

By Steven Inman

With Spring Training officially underway lets take a look at who is expected to make the Mets Opening Day Roster. With grapefruit league games not even starting yet, this group will change slightly. Injuries could also change who makes the cut to join the Mets against the defending N.L. East champs, the Washington Nationals on April 6th.

The Infield

The Mets infield appears set. Three of the four players have played key roles in previous seasons while Wilmer Flores looks to break out as the teams starting shortstop. This may not be the best defensive infield the Mets have ever had by any stretch of the imagination but they should be able to drive in some runs.

1. 3B David Wright

Daniel Murphy enters 2015 in a contract year and is highly unlikely to be resigned by the Mets

2. 2B Daniel Murphy

3. 1B Lucas Duda

4. SS Wilmer Flores

5. C Travis d’Arnaud

The Outfield

The Mets only made two major league signings this winter and they both happen to be outfielders. The Mets outfield was horrendous in 2014 and must improve, especially offensively if the club wants to be contenders.

6. LF Curtis Granderson

7. CF Juan Lagares

8. Michael Cuddyer

The Mets don’t have many quality options to replace Curtis Granderson if struggles again like he did in ’14

The Starting Rotation

The strength of this 2015 Mets club will be their starting staff. With a key member back from injury and plenty of starting pitching depth in the minors, expect this to be one of the better rotations in the National League.

9. RHP Matt Harvey

10. RHP Zack Wheeler

11. RHP Jacob deGrom

12. LHP Jon Niese

13. RHP Bartolo Colon

The Bullpen

This is where things get a little cloudy. The Mets bullpen is very much undecided thanks to Dillon Gee being the odd man out of the rotation. Gee is not pleased with going to the bullpen and has stated he would prefer to start somewhere. While we aren’t going to rule out a trade it is very unlikely at this point as most teams have their budgets set going into the season and don’t want to spend an additional $5 million on a back end starter like Gee in Spring Training.

While the Mets would love to see a second left-hander emerge into the bullpen out of camp, expect six right-handers to be in the Mets bullpen in Washington for Opening Day. The Mets will give Rafael Montero a shot to be a reliever in camp and that may be his only shot to pitch in the big leagues for the foreseeable future. Expect Bobby Parnell to help this group out in a couple months as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

14. RHP (CL) Jenrry Mejia

15. RHP Jeruys Familia

16. LHP Josh Edgin

17. RHP Vic Black

18.  RHP Carlos Torres

19. RHP Dillon Gee

20. RHP Rafael Montero

The Bench

After hitting well in his rookie season, Eric Campbell will likely see time in both infield and outfield corners this season

The Mets have had very weak benches over the past few seasons and expect 2015 to be no different. The team did a nice job in bringing in Jon Mayberry Jr. and as long as Terry Collins only plays him against lefties he should perform well. Expect Kirk Nieuwenhuis to make the club over a player like Matt Den Dekker as he is out of options. If Kirk does not make the club the Mets will most likely lose him to another team.

21. OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis

22. OF John Mayberry Jr.

23. SS-2B Ruben Tejada

24. IF-OF Eric Campbell

25. C Anthony Recker

Do you think we got the list right?

Don’t expect Mets to bring in another left-handed reliever

By Steven Inman

Despite still having something to prove, Josh Edgin enters 2015 as the Mets most important reliever

The Mets enter camp this spring with just one left-handed reliever expected to make the Opening Day roster in 28-year old Josh Edgin. Sandy Alderson and company are unlikely to change that despite several established left-handed relievers still hanging around on the free agent market such as Phil Coke or Joe Beimel. The Mets are unlikely to sign either one of them, even to a minor league deal at this point which means expect Terry Collins to call on “Everyday Edgin” frequently to start the season.

The Mets have a very good bullpen but the one Achilles heel of the group is having just the one lefty. Not to mention that one lefty is Edgin, who is promising, but hasn’t established that he can handle the workload that is going to be asked of him. In fact few have.

The Mets have tried the one lefty thing before in recent seasons with players such as Pedro Feliciano, Tim Byrdak and Scott Rice. All three players had early success before being ran into the ground from overuse. The same thing is going to happen to Edgin unless the Mets find a second pitcher to get left-handers out.

Edgin has never exceeded 30 innings a year in parts of three seasons in the big leagues and has never pitched in more than 47 games. The Mets are hoping Edgin can nearly double his appearance workload this season just like the days that “Perpetual Pedro” got in 90+ appearances a year for the Mets a few seasons back. Feliciano led the league in appearances every season from 2008-2010 and has pitched in just 11.1 innings since.

The Mets have rule 5 pick LHP Sean Gilmartin in camp but the team sees him more as a long-man than a lefty specialist. Plus with Dillon Gee still in camp as the long reliever it is unlikely Gilmartin will find a spot on this club. The Mets also have Jack Leathersich but he isn’t quite ready for big league action just yet according to Sandy Alderson.

This could emerge as a problem early on in the season so stay tuned….

The New York Mets should go get Joe Thatcher for their bullpen

By Steven Inman

Photo by Fox Sports

The New York Mets have used only one left-hander in their bullpen the past couple of seasons and it usually costs them dearly. In 2013 the only lefty in the Mets pen that could be relied upon was LHP Scott Rice. With this, it’s no coincidence that the Mets have had one of the worst bullpens in baseball the past couple of years. This season the Mets only expect to have one lefty in their pen with Scott Rice as their only real left-handed option left in camp.

Remember the team optioned LHP Josh Edgin to minor-league camp earlier this week.

The team could go with minor-league signing John Lannan but he has never been a reliever before. The team should go out on the trade market and acquire LHP Joe Thatcher. Thatcher, 32, is a very good left handed specialist. He has had very strong years for the Padres but has fallen out of favor in Arizona after being acquired by the snakes at the 2013 Trade Deadline for Ian Kennedy. Thatcher in 2013 went 3-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 72 games. Make no mistake about it, Thatcher is a lefty specialist. While he did make 72 appearances last season, he did that in just 39.1 innings.

There were rumblings that the Diamondbacks had interest in moving Thatcher. That seemed to magnify when the team signed former Met Oliver Perez to a two-year deal to be their primary lefty reliever earlier this week.

Thatcher would be a perfect fit to go with Scott Rice. Also Thatcher is making just $2.4 million, a fair rate for one of the MLB’s better left-handed specialists. Thatcher has also had a very strong spring to date. The Mets should certainly look into this.

Spring Training Preview: Mets Top Five Questions for Spring Training

By Steven Inman

With the Mets first Spring Training game officially underway it is now time to see the Mets top 5 questions for Spring Training. While the Mets look improved, they still have plenty of issues for Terry Collins and company to work out.

1.  Who plays first base?

Obviously the Mets expected this issue to be solved before Spring Training started. They were deep in talks to deal Ike Davis elsewhere to the point where even he was surprised that he was in Port St. Lucie. He probably has the advantage over Lucas Duda to this point but the first base job is still pretty much wide open. Josh Satin should play every day against lefties anyway at first base. Barring a trade, both players should still be on the Opening Day roster.

2. What does the outfield look like?

It appears that all four of Curtis Granderson, Juan Lagares, Chris Young and Eric Young Jr. will play a lot this season. The Mets don’t really have another outfielder that is currently pictured to make the Opening Day roster. I believe Juan Lagares deserves to play every day which would free Young Jr. to be a pinch running weapon off the bench, kind of like what the Reds did with Billy Hamilton last September. This outfield has the potential to be very special. “Runners are going to be very hesitant to take the extra base on us.” Eric Young Jr. told Kevin Burkhardt during the SNY Mets telecast Friday. While Granderson and Chris Young are expected to play every day, Young Jr. and Lagares will compete for a starting job in Spring Training. If Eric Young Jr. wins a starting job, then he would play left and Chris Young would move to center.

3. Who is the Mets 5^th starter?

If Jenrry Mejia is healthy he should be the Mets 5^th starter. He has #2 starter upside but with his violent delivery and injury history, there is no reason to think that he can make it through a full season healthy. Dice-K and John Lannan will also compete for the job and the best performance in camp should win the 5^th starters job. It is possible that one of these veteran guys end up as a long man in the Mets pen.

4. How does the bullpen shape up?

Pretty much everyone in this bullpen is coming to camp with major questions. Bobby Parnell is coming off a major injury, Vic Black, who is expected to be the Mets set-up man, has less than 20 big league innings under his belt. The Mets didn’t bring in anyone on a major league deal to add to the bullpen and winded up losing LaTroy Hawkins. The Mets hope is that Jose Valverde and Kyle Farnsworth can regain some lost velocity and they can be the bridge to Parnell. Young guys like Jeurys Familia, Josh Edgin and Gonzalez Germen will be crucial for this questionable Mets bullpen.

5. What do the Mets do at shortstop?

This is the one question that Terry Collins likely doesn’t have control of. Reports of Ruben Tejada still being overweight have continued to pop up throughout camp. Wilmer Flores has lost so much weight that he is now being considered for shortstop reps in spring training.  Stephen Drew is still on the market somehow which should continue with no true suitor emerging. His agent Scott Boras speculates that Drew could wait until after the Drew draft so he wouldn’t be tied down to draft pick compensation. Nick Franklin has also come up in Mets trade rumors but the team is unlikely at this point to trade one of their top pitching prospects when they are unsure if he could handle shortstop on an everyday basis defensively.

Which Mets question are you most concerned about?